the honeymoon phase

Today, our last day of orientation, our last "class" was a presentation given by a few of the November 2009 intake students. One of the students called this phase of our MBA the honeymoon phase - we're just getting to know everyone and everyone seems so nice and pleasant and interesting, the professors seem funny and ingenious, and the schedule is long but fun. The message we heard over and over again this week was that we will be working very hard, and teams are going to have crisis, and we're going to have to need some high quality time management and team building skills for when the "honeymoon phase" wears off. So enjoy the beginning because it's going to get crazy!

Orientation topics have included an introduction to the case management method, an "action learning" exercise on teamwork, a review of the IE ethics code, and a first encounter with the career services department. The whole week has made me very excited for the year to come. I'm most excited about using the learning experience, including both the "hard" and "soft" skills we'll be learning, to figure out how my future career can be compatible with the kind of person I want to be.

They have already started to impress upon us the importance of networking... they even organized an open bar to lubricate social interaction with all 500 or so of our Nov. 2010 peers Wednesday night! I went home "early" at 1a.m. because I had a cold I didn't want to get any worse. An MBA in Madrid specifically is also about enjoying the Madrileña nightlife (which means it's completely normal to return home on the weekends, or even weekdays, at 7a.m.), and the school really encourages us to do so! It's all about balance... So far, it is resulting in a down-to-earth party hard, play hard atmosphere. 

Tonight I went to my first student club event. The Indian Club put on a great party with food and dancing to celebrate Diwali. 

Landing Days, Dems Abroad, and travel

So much has happened since the last time I blogged! I feel like that's going to be the case during most of this MBA experience!

First of all, last Tuesday I attended one of the Landing Days session the Student Office puts on. Useful information was given on cell phone contracts, bank accounts, apartment hunting, and immigration. Since I had already found my studio apartment, I could fill out the immigration form right then and there requesting my NIE. One thing I really like about all these initial orientation activities is that they combine students from all of IE's exchange and master programs so I've been able to meet people also in other programs. 

Later that night, I went to my first Democrats Abroad meeting in Spain. I was previously a member in the Piedmont/Liguria/Valle d'Aosta chapter in Italy, so I decided to check out the Madrid chapter. I like Dems Abroad for a variety of reasons. First of all, the meetings are great for networking. Case in point, I met an IE professor! Second, because while I might not always follow party lines, I enjoy the philosophical discussions and the international nature of the events put on by the organization. At this September meeting, for example, Francisco Fonseca, Director of the European Commission in Spain, gave a speech on the future of EU-US relations post-Lisbon Treaty. 

The rest of the week I dedicated to making my new little apartment home. That means, of course, a trip to the urban sprawl that is IKEA. I'm still researching what internet contract to sign up with once I get my NIE. I think I want something with a little more umph than the company the school promotes - StudentsPhone, offers. 

I spent the weekend in Valencia with my boyfriend. Thank God for low-cost airfare! He can fly from Italy to meet me in Madrid, and many other Spanish towns for next to nothing. Unfortunately, the Joaquin Sabina concert we bought tickets to was cancelled, and it rained a lot. So not a lot of beach time nor Spanish music, but we did get to meet up with one of my boyfriend's childhood friends and so we enjoyed a local's take on the city... and a lot of paella and tapas!